Michigan may be on the verge of legalizing adult-use marijuana this November, but as one 80-year-old local woman learned, the law of medical marijuana use only is still enforced in the state. Mrs. Saltzman Goes to Jail, a documentary from Racing Horse Productions, tells the story of Dolores Saltzman, who uses cannabis to treat her chronic pain and arthritis. But in June 2018, she was arrested because her marijuana card had expired.
“I started using marijuana because it did this wonderful thing for me,” Saltzman says in the documentary.
Her story showcases the absurdity of our present law that police officials must enforce. The officer who knocked on Saltzman’s door handcuffed and put her in jail, after smelling cannabis from her house and learning of Saltzman’s expired card. Sleeping the night in a cold cell placed stress on her arthritis and she claims it took her two months to rid herself o the cold in her body.
Emmy-nominated director Rebecca Richman Cohen managed to get Sheriff John Wilson to appear on screen for an interview. He was adamant in defending the actions of his officer.
“I mean, morally in this country, we don’t want to put this old lady in jail,” Wilson said. “But if the officer doesn’t enforce the law with her and the 25-year-old gets in trouble for it—that’s not good fairness across the board.”
The latest poll from the Detroit Free Press found that 55 percent of Michigan voters supported full legalization of recreational cannabis.
